There are myriad documents and files accessible over the Internet. Retrieving desired information on the Internet, however, generally requires knowledge of an associated Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or data location. For example, if a consumer wishes to obtain information about or order a particular company's product on the World Wide Web (WWW), she must know the URL corresponding to that company's web site. Conversely, if a corporation wants the public to visit a web site containing information about its products, the corporation will typically advertise its web site and corresponding URL in television, radio, print or other media. A consumer may then enter this URL, assuming he remembers it, into a web browser and access the web site.
When a specific URL or data location is not known, search engines are a way of locating desired information. A user typically enters key words or search terms into a search engine, which returns a list of URLs corresponding to web sites or USENET groups where the key words or search terms were found. A search engine will often return a large list of web sites, through which the user must wade to locate the few web sites relevant to her query.
Due in part to the proliferation of commercial web sites, consumers have become accustomed to the notion that there is a web site containing information for the vast majority of products and services being commercially offered. Yet, as described above, access to a particular web site on the Internet requires knowledge of the actual URL or access to a search engine. This becomes problematic when there is no immediate access to a computer connected to the Internet. For example, when a person sees an item displayed on a television and desires further information, he must remember characteristics about the item. At a later time, the person can enter those characteristics as search terms in a typical search engine. Alternatively, assuming the broadcast advertisement or program displays an “800” number, the user may use the number and access a telephone operator or call center to obtain more information and/or order the item. Beyond these methods, however, there are few ways of efficiently identifying data locations or URLs, or accessing other relevant resources, based upon an observation of a particular object or event. In light of the foregoing, it can be seen that a need exists for alternative methods of identifying URLs, or other data locations on a computer network, offering information corresponding to objects displayed in other media, such as television broadcasts and print.